Schwing, Young take two Yorba Linda council seats

YORBA LINDA Incumbent Mark Schwing and newcomer Craig Young won seats on the Yorba Linda City Council on Tuesday, but the third spot up for grabs remained too close to call.

Most of the evening, incumbent Nancy Rikel held a slim lead over newcomer Eugene J. “Gene” Hernandez. As of late Wednesday afternoon, unofficial results showed Hernandez pulling just ahead, 11,094 votes to Rikel's 11,075 – a margin slim enough that absentee and provisional ballots may change the outcome.

Schwing (12,349 votes or 18.8 percent) led from the start, with Young (11,878 votes or 18 percent) not far behind, both holding the No. 1 and 2 positions, respectively.

“It's a good feeling. It's tough for a newbie to win,” Young said. He listed his top priority as keeping Yorba Linda's sizable budget reserve healthy: “I want to make sure our books are balanced.”

Schwing said he was happy to get another four years – “There's a lot of work to be done,” he said – but was equally disappointed to see Rikel slip into fourth place.

However, Schwing knows from personal experience that close races can change as ballots continue to be counted.

Still, “If it holds, I think we can work together,” Schwing said of Young and Hernandez. “I don't think there will be any changes in direction” for the council.

With Schwing and Rikel running to retain their seats, Tuesday's election seemed to serve as an unofficial referendum on the City Council's decision earlier this year to contract with the Orange County Sheriff's Department for police services to save money. Brea had held that contract for the last 40 years. Brea police supporters were vocal about their choice during several contentious public meetings.

Along with Councilman John Anderson, Schwing and Rikel voted for the Sheriff's Department on a strongly divided council. A group that wanted to keep Brea launched a recall attempt against Anderson that fell short of the required number of signatures.

The Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs' independent expenditure committee pumped plenty of money into the race. The group paid more than $60,000 to purchase mailed fliers and an email campaign endorsing Schwing, Rikel, and Peterson. The spending was evenly split among the three candidates.

Schwing said the union's work on his behalf was not solicited and not welcome.

“Had I known it was coming, I would have spoken out about it. I think it was out of place,” Schwing said.

Young said he's not opposed to the city's new contract with the Sheriff's Department, but is concerned about the amount of money the union spent.